Metal containers, commonly known as tin cans, are well known to the consumer. They are a convenient way of storing and preserving food and, of course, are well known in every household. Not only are they a common household item, they are a necessity when taking a trip; or camping where food will be needed. And, of course, canned food is an essential for the military.
Cans are useful for the preservation of a vast array of food items. Just about every type of fruit, vegetable or meat is amenable to preparation and packing into a can in processes known as canning.
Conventionally, cans were opened by the use of a can opener operated by hand. In recent years, electric can openers have come into vogue for use in the home. However, conventional hand-held can openers are still used in the field, on picnics and where no electric supply for a can opener is available. Besides the hand-held can opener, another way of opening cans is with the use of a turn-key which latches on to a tab attached to the top of the can. The key is inserted into the tab, and the key turned winding the top of the can around the key. The removal of the top is facilitated by a weakened seam on the top of the can which yielded when the key turned and thus the top is removed.
A major advance in can-container technology came about by the advent of the zip-top can. The zip-top can is a can which has a pull-tab or pull ring attached to the top of the can. The top of the can has a weakened seam so that when the tab or ring is pulled, the top separates from the rest of the can at the weakened seam, thus exposing the contents in the can. The popularity of cans relative to bottles for packaged beverages has increased owing to the development of so-called "easy open" cans of the "pop-top" variety which may be opened by hand without an opener. The tab and opening seam on the can are made so as to be able to open a relatively small aperture or remove the entire top of the can.
Despite the advances in canning technology, there is still a need in the art to supply utensils along with the can for ready use and consumption of the food contents of the can. The prior art leaves much to be desired in solving the problem of supplying utensils along with the canned product.
For example, the prior art as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 1,749,658 to Ault discloses a container with a cover onto which is integrally formed a spoon and wherein the spoon is divided from the cover by a weakened line so that a pressure against the spoon portion of the cover will remove the spoon therefrom, with the spoon being used when the contents of the container are eaten.
A utensil attached to a package containing pie is shown by Chmielewski et al in U.S. Pat. No. 2,584,379. The container of Chmielewski et al is used for storing pie and is made of plastic, paper, ceramic or metal. A guard member or slot can be formed on the outside wall of the container so that a fork or other utensil can be slipped in and out of the slot. In another embodiment, a fork is made integral to a wall of the pie plate with the wall being removable and the fork being used to consume the pie. Chmielewski does not show a utensil integral to the top of the container.
The patent to Kalajian, U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,803, discloses a container carton for holding cans of beverage. The carton has perforated, scored or otherwise weakened line to define a handle which is formed when the perforated or scored lines are punched out. No eating utensil is shown outlined by the perforated or scored lines and no pull tab is shown for easy zip-top opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,176 to Tobiassor shows a food container lid convertible into a spoon for use in eating from the container. While the spoon is removable by perforations, it is only partially removed from the top; and no pull tab is shown to ease the complete removal of the spoon from the top.
None of the prior art set forth above shows the invention described herein.